Mechanization is an important bottleneck to address for rice farmers in West Africa, whether using SRI or conventional methods. As part of the regional WAAPP SRI program, local artisans in Gao, Mali, were hired to produce 100 cono weeders, which will greatly ease, speed up and enhance the adoption of SRI throughout the Gao area.

The pictures below are from SRI Champion Hamidou Guindo, who has been working with SRI since its early days in Mali. At center (below) is the Gao region’s Director of Agriculture, presenting a weeder to a local farmer in December 2014.

Photos by Hamidou Guindou